How to Take Professional Product Photos of Your Handmade Items

Good photos are critical for a handmade product. It can be the difference between making a sale and getting a casual scroll-past. Photos are important for any business but especially for selling handmade online. Your photos need to show the customer every detail, so they know exactly what they are getting. Great photos will help improve sales numbers as well as reduce returns since what someone sees will be exactly what they get. They'll stop someone mid scroll, build trust, show off your skill, and help build a story. Bad photos lead to a few looks but no real intent to buy and can make even the most beautiful products look cheap and unprofessional.

1. Equipment Basics

You do NOT need a DSLR. Most smartphones have a great camera, so you don't need to go out and buy a fancy camera especially if you're just starting out. What matters more is how you shoot. What you DO need:

• A tripod: Keeps your shots steady and consistent.
• Lighting: Skip the yellow ceiling light. Get a cheap soft box or use daylight.
• Backdrop: Use clean white foam boards, wood surfaces, or fabric for texture.

The key is stability, good lighting, and a distraction-free background. If your phone has a manual/pro mode, use it to control focus, brightness, and white balance for more professional results. Keep your setup simple, consistent, and repeatable.

2. Lighting Tips

Natural light is king. Shoot near a window in the morning or late afternoon.

• Avoid direct sunlight (harsh shadows).
• Use a sheer curtain or parchment paper as a diffuser.
• Bounce light back onto the product with a white foam board.

If you must shoot at night, invest in a softbox or LED light panel. Don’t mix light sources (e.g., warm room light + cool LEDs = trash). Pick a light source that isn't too warm or cool to avoid changing the colors of your product. Between 3500K and 4000K is natural white on the lighting temperature scale. While you don't want harsh shadows soft shadows are beneficial as they show off the 3D nature of the product. Don't use the flash as this ruins texture and causes ugly, flat shadows.

3. Backgrounds & Staging

Keep it clean. The product is the focus.

• White or light gray backgrounds = clean and professional.
• Add minimal props for context (e.g., a mug with tea next to a handmade coaster).
• No clutter. No distractions.

Your product is the focus not your furniture, pets, or houseplants. A clean background helps your item stand out. Show your item in use where relevant e.g., a baby blanket in a crib, not folded on the floor. If you do use props make sure you're clear that they aren't included in your product description, so customers aren't confused by what they're getting.

4. Angles & Composition

One photo isn’t enough.

• Main image: Front and centered.
• Close-up: Show texture and intricate detail.
• In use: Demonstrate size or fit.
• Back view / label: Include branding elements.
• Use the rule of thirds. Don’t center everything like a passport photo.

Don’t stop at one photo customers want to feel like they’re holding the item. Show texture, scale, use, and details. The rule of thirds is dividing and image into nine equal parts using two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines. Place your item along one of those lines or intersections to make the image more dynamic.

5. Editing & Optimization

You don’t need Photoshop.

• Free tools: Snapseed (mobile), Canva, Lightroom Mobile.
• Adjust brightness, contrast, white balance. Do NOT use heavy filters.
• Crop consistently.
• Compress images to keep site fast (TinyPNG, Squoosh).

Editing should be light and natural. You're not creating an Instagram aesthetic you're helping your product look true to life. Consistency across your store builds trust and makes it feel more professional.

6. Uploading Best Practices

• Use descriptive filenames: hand-knit-wool-scarf.jpg beats IMG_0029.jpg
• Fill in image alt text with keywords for accessibility + SEO
• Use consistent sizes/aspect ratios (e.g., square 1:1 for grid listings)

SEO starts with your image files. Descriptive filenames and alt text help your products show up in search. Keeping your images the same size also prevents layout shifts that look messy.

Final Tip:

Spend 10 minutes scrolling through your current product photos. Ask yourself:

“If I were seeing this for the first time, would I want to buy it?”

If the answer’s “meh,” it’s time to reshoot. Bad photos are silent revenue killers. Great photos are one of the cheapest and fastest ways to boost your sales and they keep working 24/7.